From: Patricia
6 months ago we purchased a 15yr old gelding 12.2 hand welsh/quarter cross for my daughter to ride. He is stabled at our home but we trailer twice a week to lessons. She rides English and has been jumping him up to 18" She is a good little rider and he is very athletic with a "floating" trot and flying lead changes. As my daughter began jumping bigger jumps with Cash he began a behavior that is very upsetting. If she is sitting too far forward in the saddle when going over the jump he will land straight legged and hop while arching his back and trying to unseat her. He only seems to do it when she or anyone else who is riding him sits too far forward. I took him to the vet and had him thoroughly gone over. He found no soreness anywhere and only some to be expected arthritic changes in his flexor tendon. We put him on glucosamine for this and he is also on a hoof supplement as he needs heels. He has regular farrier care and is ridden once a week over jumps by a slightly built 14 year old upper C pony clubber. He occassionally pulls his stunt on her she disciplines him with voice,leg and crop when he does he fortunately does not unseat her. Her instructor is ready to have us find another pony but he has many other excellent qualities and if there is something else we can try I would really appreciate the help.(I suspect that this stunt was a problem for his previous owner as well) Thank you
Since the vet hasn't found any obvious physical damage or obvious underlying problem, I think you can safely assume that you're faced with a simple matter of a pony that is experiencing and reacting to pain when he lands from a jump with the rider too far forward. This would not come as a surprise to any trainer or rider of hunters or jumpers. A strong reaction is very common amongst horses and ponies that experience sudden pain in their backs (or, more commonly, withers and shoulders) when landing from a jump. If nothing is done about the cause of the pain, the
The cause of the pain is usually a combination of one or more of these elements:
a) a saddle positioned too far forward on the horse's back and impinging on its shoulders
b) a rider that moves too far forward on the horse's back c) a painful impact as the rider puts too much weight on the front of the saddle as the horse lands
There can be other issues, of course. A saddle with a too-wide tree can allow pressure to be put on the horse's spine; a saddle with a too-narrow tree, too-long points, or both can dig painfully into a horse's shoulders. A stiff rider can crash into the saddle, hurting the horse's back, a rider who comes back into the saddle too soon after a jump, instead of letting the horse land and move on, will hurt the horse's back. A rider who holds the reins too tight, or grabs them as the horse lands, instead of allowing the horse the freedom to use its head and neck over a jump, will cause the horse to land awkwardly and stiffly, which will also be painful.
It sounds to me as if your daughter's pony is a good, honest pony who is, very reasonably, objecting NOT to jumping, but to jumping with a rider in a position that causes him acute pain. I would investigate saddle fit and position, and make the necessary changes to your daughter's jumping position and timing, before the pony learns to refuse or run out in order to avoid the pain associated with jumping.
Keep one other thing in mind: Horses can experience deep bruising in the withers and in the just behind the withers. This won't necessarily show up in the form of a visible lesion, white hairs, or any of the easy-to-see signs of injury. The horse, without saddle or rider, may not react noticeably to the sort of pressure you exert with your hand. But the force exerted by a saddle and rider, especially a rider who is out of position, especially landing from a jump, is immense, and if the horse has light bruising, it can be in significant pain. If the injury has been repeated often enough, it may have deeper tissue injury and be in agony - and a horse in that much pain is not safe, in itself, or for its rider.
Perhaps the pony can have some time off, or at least some time off jumping, whilst your daughter has jumping lessons on a school horse. She needs to learn to fold her body instead of standing up and putting her weight forward - that's hurting her pony in the short term, and can cause her to become badly hurt - or worse - in the long term.
Children love to jump, and they often want to jump more often, for longer periods, too fast, too high, and too frequently for the health and soundness of the horse or pony. If you have a good jumping instructor, s/he is probably already working with your daughter to teach her how to jump in balance, without getting in her horse's way. It would probably be a good idea to limit the jumping to lessons, so that the pony won't be "jumped into the ground", and so that your daughter will get her instructor's feedback on all of her jumping. This is the time for her to build good habits, and twice-a-week lessons, in which she can jump her pony under expert supervision, should give her a great chance to do just that. She's a lucky girl. ;-)
Jessica
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